The End of Laissez-Faire - Classic Text | Alexandria
The End of Laissez-Faire, published in 1926 by British economist John Maynard Keynes, stands as a pivotal critique of classical economic liberalism and marks a watershed moment in economic thought. This slim yet profound essay emerged during the interwar period when the established economic orthodoxy faced unprecedented challenges from the disruptions of World War I and mounting social pressures.
The work's genesis can be traced to a series of lectures Keynes delivered at Oxford in 1924 and the University of Berlin in 1926. Writing amid the economic turbulence of post-war Britain and the growing disillusionment with unfettered capitalism, Keynes challenged the foundational assumptions of laissez-faire economics that had dominated Western economic thinking since Adam Smith. The text critically examines the philosophical and historical roots of economic liberalism, revealing how its principles had become divorced from their original context and calcified into dogma.
Through elegant prose and incisive analysis, Keynes dismantles the intellectual foundations of laissez-faire, arguing that its core tenets - the harmony of private and public interests, and the self-regulating nature of markets - were based on outdated metaphysical assumptions rather than empirical reality. The work's significance lies not only in its theoretical contributions but in its timing, presaging the Great Depression and the subsequent transformation of economic policy. It represents an early articulation of ideas that would later flourish in his masterwork, "The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money" (1936).
The essay's influence continues to reverberate through contemporary debates about the role of government in economic affairs, market regulation, and social welfare. Its prescient analysis of capitalism's inherent instabilities and the need for balanced state intervention remains startlingly relevant to modern discussions of economic inequality, market failure, and sustainable development. The End of Laissez-Faire endures as both a historical document of a pivotal moment in economic thought and a living text that speaks to current challenges in reconciling market efficiency with social justice. Scholars and policymakers continue to grapple with its central question: what is the optimal balance between market freedom and governmental oversight in ensuring economic prosperity and social welfare?